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Nike Thought It Didn't Need Amazon -- Then the Ground Shifted (wsj.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: For years, Nike was one of the biggest holdouts against Amazon.com, refusing to provide its sneakers and athletic clothing for sale on the hulking e-commerce site. Its products were so cool, the company reasoned, it didn't need or want the help. Recently, Nike reversed course. Behind that decision lies a dramatic shift in the balance of power between brands and Amazon (Editor's note: the link could be paywalled; syndicated source). For decades, big consumer brands carefully controlled which retailers could sell their wares and at what prices. And for years, Amazon left the brands alone. Lately, the explosion of third-party sellers on the site has led to authentic goods from companies such as Nike, Chanel, The North Face, Patagonia and Urban Decay being sold on Amazon even though they don't authorize the sales, undercutting their grip on pricing and distribution. Even though Nike didn't send Amazon its products either directly or through approved wholesalers, Nike is the most purchased apparel brand on the site, according to a Morgan Stanley survey. A recent search for Nike products on Amazon turned up roughly 73,000 items. These days, there are so many third-party resellers, who generally are allowed to resell goods they have lawfully acquired at whatever price they want, that companies see few ways to stop them.
Are we supposed to care about what happens to asshole companies that blantly overprice their merchandise? Fuck 'em. This serves them right.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
It's really the only thing as an automation freelancer that I continually see job posts for. Something about sneakerbots is profitable to the right people and I've never understood why. They treat that shit like it's wall street high frequency trading.
So they are largely to blame for the fact that many people don't wear decent shoes anymore and only wear training shoes?
Look into how your foot is supposed to work and how it actually works when wearing sneakers. A lot of lower back pain and foot problems are due to modern shoes. High heels are an abomination.
These days, there are so many third-party resellers, who generally are allowed to resell goods they have lawfully acquired at whatever price they want, that companies see few ways to stop them.
Good. We'd all like to be able to stop people from competing with us, but nobody should have the power to do so.
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
Trainers have a reputation of falling apart within months
I've had several pairs of Nike trainers last me between 2-4 years. That's good enough for me. Typical point of failure is just the sole wearing down too far.
A first step is taken, now let me import your shoes from South East Asia where they cost a fraction of what you gouge here.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Nike Air Monarch IV comes in very wide widths. Its the oldest design i continually see Nike produce.
Good-bye
... then the Ground Shifted
So.. Nike lost its footing?
vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
Not true. You don't understand the remainder market:
The manufacturer produces a product and sells it to the wholesaler for 25% of list price. The wholesaler sells the product to the retailer for 50% of list price. The retailer sells it to the consumer at somewhere around list price (more when it first comes out, less as time goes on.) When the NEW version comes out the retailer returns their unsold merchandise to the wholesaler for credit towards their next purchase. Even with this return credit, the wholesaler has made a profit on the deal.
Typically manufacturer - wholesaler contracts prevent the wholesaler from selling below cost until the item is replaced by a newer model in the manufacturer catalog, which may only be a matter of a few months. Sometimes wholesalers will sell stock to the remainder dealers ahead of schedule if the product is not selling thru to retailers quickly enough...assuming they think the manufacturers will not catch them, or the penalty for getting caught is less than the cost of keeping the products sitting in the warehouses.
Now, the wholesaler sells the product to the remainder dealer for 10% of the list price (they already made a profit -this is just EXTRA PROFIT). The remainder dealer then sells the product to discount merchants for 20% of the list price. The discount merchant sells the products for 50% of the list price -or whatever they can get. Discount merchants typically do not have the option of returning unsold merchandise for credit like regular retailers do, so selling at a low price is better than no sale.
According to the doctrine of first sale (codified in 17 U.S.C. 109) we can sell, display, or otherwise dispose of any (non-counterfeit) item we have without needing the permission of the manufacturer / brand-owner / copyright holder. So third party merchants may not have the latest fad item, but we can sell whatever we do have for whatever price we want.